Conveying mechanism for unloading machines



F.E.ARNDT. n CONVEYING MECHANISM FOR UNLOADING MACHINES.

APPLICATION FILED MAR 25. 1922.

Patented me. 5,1922.,

Hamel'.

I SHEETS-'SHEET l.

gnou/Ufo@ F. E. ARNDT.

CONVEYING MEcHANlsNl FOR UNLOADING MACHINES.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 25, 1922.

Patented Dec. 5, 1922..

' 4 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

NAW/,581.

] num/dom F. E. ARNDT, CONVEYING NEcHANlslw FOR UNLoAnlNG MACHINES.

APPLICATION FILEDfMARI. 25. 1922.

Patented Dee, 5, 1922,

4 SHEETS-SHEET a;

F. E. ARNm. CONVEYING IVIECHANISIVI FOR UNLOADING MACHINES. APPLICATIONFILED MAR. 25, 1922.

15,437,581 Patented Dee. i922.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 4.

I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I Fran/flan E; zd

Patented ldisc. 5, i922.

sraxrns anni PATENT orice.

FRANKLIN n. AnNDT, or G ALION, OHIO, AssIGNon irofrrrn saLIoN IRON wennsa MFG. oo.,y or GAIION, OHIO, A Oonrona'rIoN or OHIO.

CONVEYING MnoIIeNIsr/I non UNLOADING MACHINES.

Application led 'March 25, 1922.v Serial No. 546,756.

To all whom it may concern.' i

Beit known that LFRANKLIN E. ARNDT, a citizen ot the United States,residing at Galion, in the county of Crawford and State ot Ohio, haveinvented certain new and use- .'t'ul lniprovements in ConveyingMechanisms for Unloading Machines, ot which the folr flow into said pitand thus be taken up by the elevator. i y

rlhe general object of the present invention is to provide means.iorconveying coal, crushed stone, slag, gavel orlike material trom undera hopper bottom car, for instance` to the elevator pit, and inxthisconnection to provide an apparatus of this kind comprising one or morehorizontally movable conveyors which are driven from the driving.k

mechanism ot the elevator and which will carry the material over the:face oit a plate into said pit.- f i f Still another object is toprovide mechanism ot this character' including' two conveyors yhavingoutwardly extending blades moving over the surface of the said plate,f

these conveyors being so mounted that the outer ends of the conveyorsaway from the pit may be shittod 'toward or away from cach other to thusmake the ymssageway between the conveyors and between the conveyorfingers wider and narrower as desired,

andl in this connection to provide lmeans whereby these two conveyorsmay he swung.

either hoth'to the right, both to thelett, or in oppositedirections. i

.5l further object is to provide yaimechanisni ot' this characterwherein the conveyors' are operated byv mechanism disposed abovetheplate over which the conveyors move-'so r.

as to do away with the necessity of forming a pit for the accommodationof this conveyor driving mechanism. y

Other objects will appear in the course of the following description.

My invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, .wherein 'YFigure l is a top plan view ot a `conveyor structurev constructed inaccordance with my invention;

yFigure 2 isa longitudinal sectional view thereof on the line 2-2ot`Figure l;

Figure 3 is a top planview of one of the conveyors` 14, showing theconveying chain in dotted lines;

yFigure l is 'a longitudinal section on the line le-4.0i Figure 3;" n

Figure 5 is a transverse sectional view on the` line 5-5 of Figure 2,the conveying mechanism being detached;

Figure 6 is a side elevation of a modication, this view showing .indotted lines a car on the track and ready to discharge onto theconveyor;

Figure `'7 is a sectional view showing a` modifie-d view of the platformor plate associatedlzwith the tracks and my conveying mechanism g nReferring ymore particularly to the construction as illustratedinFigures l'to 5, A designates a pit-'disposed to' one side of the rails Bof a railroad track.' In this pit operates the upwardly inclinedelevator `C whose construction forms'no part of my in*- vcution1 theshaft C nof 'this elevator carrying` a clutch D and a sprocket wheel E.The elevator may be ydriven in any suitable 4inanner not necessary todescribe herein but 'fully described in my prior patent.

Forming part of the-pit'A and disposed between the main portion otthe'pit A and the rails Bis a secondpit l() wherein the driving`mechanismiior the conveyors is disposed. Betore describing this drivingapparatus l. will describe the conveyingV mechainism. yThis conveyingmechanism .includes a plate l1 which constitutes a support" or platform7ytl'iis'plate llat vits forward end discharging onto a downwardly andtorwardly inclined chute lQ'formed with parallel wings i3 by which thematerial is discharged onto the buckets of the elevator C.

Pivotally mounted upon the plate ll are a pair of conveyors, eachconsisting of an upper plate 1.4 and a lower plate l5. These plates aresupported in spaced relation to each other by longitudinallyextendingchannels 16, with the bolts 17 passing through the channelirons and the plates and holding the plates down against the channelirons 16 so that the two plates are held in 'spaced relation. Disposedbetween the forward ends of the pair of plates for each conveyor is asprocket bearing member 1.8 formed in upper and lower sections whichcarry the brass bushings 19. This bearing` member 18 is held in place bybolts 2O passing through the plates and may be constructed in anyvsuitable manner, and provides a bearing for the hub 2l of a sprocketwheel 22. This sprocket wheel is formed with a central, many-sided andpreferably square opening 23 for the passage of the driving pin or shaftwhereby the sprocket wheel is driven. Disposed between the channel ironsat the yopposite ends of the plates 14 and l5 and rectilinearly movablebetween these plates is`an adjustment block 24 which is formed in twoparts, has the bushing 25, and constitutes a. bearing for the idlersprocket wheel 26. This adjustment block is longitudinally movable bymeans of an adjusting'screw 2T which passes through a stationaryadjusting block 28 bolted to the plates. A. nut 29 engages the screw andbears against the stationary adjustmentl block 28 so that as this nut isturned `in one direction, the slidable adjustment block 24l will beshifted outward. This nut 29 is held from turning` by a lug on a coverplate 30, which is held in place by the bolts 3l and which has thedownwardly extendinglug' 32 engaging the nut 29 and holding this nutfrom accidental rotation. This movable block 24 constitutes meanswhereby an endless chain 33 may he tightened from time to time. Thischain 33 is adapted to be engaged by the teeth on the sprocket. wheels22 and 26 and attached at intervals to this chain are the outwardlyextending,` blades 34 which sweep or scrape over the face of the plate11.

lt will bc seen that with this construrtion each conveyor is operativelypivoted by the block 1.8 to the shaft which operates the sprocket wheel23 so that each yconveyor may he pivotally shifted laterally toward orfrom the other and. thus the blades fof the conveyor brought nearer toor farther from each other. l. do not wish to be limited to theparticular character of the blades 34.

nor to their particular means of attachment 'to the endless chain.

Disposed within the pit 10 is a vsupporting' frame 35 Awhichlrasbearings 36 for a shaft vheld in alace upon the shaft.

3T which extends transversely of plate ll.

This shaft carries upon it at one end the sprocket wheel 38, power beingtransmitted to this sprocket wheel from. the sprocket wheel E on shaft Cby means of a sprocket chain or other suitable gearing. Also mountedupon this shaft 37 are a pair of beveled pinions 39, one for eachconveyor. Forming part of the frame 35 are the upwardly extending,`yokes 40 which support a vertical bearing 41 for a shaft 42. The lowerend of this shaft carries upon it a beveled gear wheel 43 which mesheswith the corresponding beveled pinion 39, and the upper yend of theshaft has attached to it the sleeve 44 which is keyed or otherwise Thissleeve 44 extents upward to a point immediately beneath the plate ll andthe upper end of the sleeve is formed with a many-sided socket 45separated from the lower porti'on of the sleeve by a transverse septum4G and illustrated as square in cross section. Adapted to be disposed inthis socket is a driving pin 47 having a handle whereby it may belifted. out of position or put in pla ce. ltwill be obvious that withthis construction the conveyors are detachably connected to the drivingmechanism therefor.

lVith this construction, when a bottom dumping' car has been driven uponthe tracks B to a position yopposite the pit l0, the plate 1l isinserted beneath the car and brought in such position that the pins 47will pass through the proper perforations in the plate and into thesockets in the sleeves 44.4 Tt will be obvious now that when power yisapplied to the elevator, lpower will also be applied to the conveyors,these conveyors moving` in opposite directions to cause theadjacent armsor blades of the conveyors to move in the same direction and thus 'carrythe mate-rial from beneath the car into the pit. The conveyors may beinitially disposed in a divergent relation so that the material at themargins of the heap may be carried inward and then as the heap isreduced thc conveyors may be brought nearer to each other, untileventually they are parallel. If the car should discharge a little toone side or the other of the center line, it is obvious that both theconveyors may be shifted into more or less parallel relation but angularwith relation to the plate and will act in the same way. lu

- other words, these conveyors may be manipulated in any desired mannerto secure the full conveyance of the materia-l discharged from thedumping car into the pit.

I donot wish to be limited. to a construction wherein the operatingmechanism for the conveyors is disposed in the pit l0, that is below`the plate ll.. and in Figure G, l.' illustrate a construction whereinthe operincassi ating mechanism is disposed on a higher level than theconveyors. ln this the plate l1 and the conveyors mounted thereon are ofprecisely the same construction as the plate -ll and conveyorsillustrated in Figures l to 6, and the onlyv difference is that llprovide shafts i-2"A which extend upward and pass through bearings alawhich are mounted upon the plate ll. The shaft 42 at its lower end isoperatively connected to the sprocket wheel 22 and at its upper endcarries the beveled gear wheel 43a engaging the beveled pinion 39mounted upon the 'transverse shaft 37:L which carries the sprocket wheel38a which is driven by `a sprocket chain from a ksprocket `wheel lt"mounted upon a counterfshaiit and driven troni the elevator drivingniecl'ianisln. c This construction does away with the necessity of thepit 10 tor accommodating the driving mechanism and disposes the drivingmechanism for the conveyors above vthe level ot the plate and in a moreconvenient position.

Ut course, in this case the plate ll with thev conveyors and the drivingmechanism mounted thereon is inserted beneath the car and then the caris dumped, and when the material has been discharged onto the conveyorand it is desired to move the car along, the sprocket chain is removedfrom its engagement with the sprocket wheel 28` and the conveyors andthe plate 11 are removed from beneath the car.

Vfhile I have illustrated .a plate such as a plate of sheet metal uponwhich the coal from the car is discharged, which plate lies over andrests upon the rails of the track, l do not wish to be limitedthereto,as it is within the purview of my invention to provide a plate orplatform which shall be liush with the tracks and over which theconveyors may operate and upon which the material may be discharged, andin Figure '7 I illustrate tragmentarilya platformvr of this character,which platform is designated ll. It will be seen that in theconstruction which l have described there is a main conveyor, which haveheretofore referred to as the elevator C, and a subsidiary 'conveyorformed of the plate 11 and the pair or elongated horizontal operatingconveyors 14;, and that l. have provided means affording a detachabledriving connection between the main and subsidiary conveyors.

l t is to be understood that l do not wish to be limited to the use ofthis apparatus device with an elevator as it is obvious that 4 thedevice might be used to discharge material into a chute.y

l. claim l l. rlihe combination with a power oper ated main conveyor, ofa subsidiary conveyor discharging thereonto, and means detachable -fromthe subsidiary conveyor torming a driving connection between the mainconveyor and the subsidiary conveyor.

2. rllhe combination with a power operated main conveyor7 of asubsidiary conveyor discharging material thereon, and detachable meansforming the driving connection between the main conveyor and thesubsidiary conveyor.

y3. lThe combination with a power operated main conveyor' and asubsidiary conveyor operating to discharge material thereon, ,oiE meansaiiording a detachable driving 'connection between the main conveyor andthe subsidiary conveyor and including a driving shaft operated from themain conveyor, and a driving wheel on the subsidiary con veyor havingdetachable driving connection with said shaft.

4t. The` combination with a main power operated conveyor', of a platedischarging thereon, a subsidiary conveyor resting upon said plate andextending across the same, causing the passage of material across theplate onto the main conveyor, said subsidiary conveyor including arotatable element having a socket, and a vertical driving shaftoperatively driven from the main conveyor andadapted to be detachablyengaged with said socket. c

5. The combination with a main power operated conveyor, or" a plateextending over and discharging upon the conveyor', an endless conveyormounted upon the plate and operating thereover and acting to carry nianterial across the surface of the plate and onto the main conveyor andincluding a.

rotatable element having a socket, a vertical shaft, means for drivingthe shaft from the main conveyor, and a detachable connection betweensaid shaft and the rotatable element.

G. A conveyor structure of the character described including asupporting plate upon which material adapted to be discharged, tworotatable driving elements disposed at right angles to the plate, twoconveyory trames disposed upon the plato and into which the drivingelements project` oppositelv disposed sprocket wheels mounted on. eacl'ioit said trames at opposite ends thereof, the.corresponding drivingcle-- ment.operativelyengaging a Y less element passing over saidsprocket wheels,the blades operating over the tace ot said plate, meansfor driving the elementsin opposite directions to cause the adjacentblades of the conveyors to move in the samey direction, said conveyorframes being indesprocket wheel4 on the corresponding traine, a bladedend lfllO .a inst/,ssi

pendentlj,v shiftable into angular' relation to the t of the plate andeach around the axis of its driving element.

7. fr conveyor structure of the character described inchnling asupporting plate upon which material .is discharged, a rotatable powerdriven driving element exteiiding at right angles to the plate, aconveyor frame consisting of upper and lower plates through which thedriving element passes, the plates being' operatively connected to eachother and oscillatahle around the axis of the driving element, sprocketwheels mounted between said plates at opposite ends thereof, with one ofwhich sprocket wheels the driving element has rotative engagement, andan endless chain mounted upon said sprocket wheels and having outwardlyprojecting` blades.

8. A conveyor structure ol the character described including asupporting plate upon which material is discharged, a rotatable powerdriven driving element extending at right angles to the plate, aconveyor frame consisting' of upper and lower plates through which thedriving clement passes, the plates being operatively connected to eachother and oscillatable around the axis of the driving element, sprocketwheels mounted between said plates at opposite ends thereof, with one ofwhich sprocket wheels the driving element has rotative engagement, andan endless chain mounted upon said sprocket wheels and having outwardlyprojecting blades, one of said sprocket wheels being longitudinallyadjustable to tighten the sprocket chain.

9. A conveyor structure of the character described including` asupporting plate upon which material is discharged, a rotatable powerdriven driving element extending at right angles to the plate, aconveyor frame consisting of upper and lower plates through which thedriving element passes, the plates being operatively connected to eachother and oscillatable around the axis of the driving element, sprocketwheels mounted between said plates at opposite ends thereof, with one ofwhich sprocket wheels the driving element has rotative engagement, anendless chain mounted upon said sprocket wheels and having outwardlyprojecting blades. one of said sprocket wheels being longitudinallyadjustable to tighten the sprocket chain. means for adjusting the lastnamed sprocket wheel comprising fi sliding block upon which the sprocketwheel is mounted. a fixed abutment, a screw ring the block and passingthrough the nzred abutment, a nut on the screw engaging the fixedabutment, one of said plates having an opening through which the nut maybe adjusted, and a. detachable cover plate having a lug engaging saidnut and holding it from rotation.A

l0. A conveyor structure of the character described including asupporting plate upon which material is discharged and disposed in ahorizontal position, vertically disposed driving elements at one end ofthe plate, a pair of conveyor supporting frames through which saidelements pass, the frames being oscillatable around their respectiveelements, sprocket wheels carried upon opposite ends of said frames,with one of which sprocket wheels the corresponding rotatable elementengages, endless chains passing around said sprocket wheels and havingoutwardly eX- tending blades operating over the face of the plate,beveled gear wheels mounted upon said driving elements, and a transversepower driven shaft having beveled pinions engageable with the beveledgear wheels.

11. A conveyor structure of the character described including ahorizontal plate adapted to receive material, a pair of elongatedconveyors oscillatably mounted upon the plate and including endlesselements having outwardly projecting blades, rotatable driving membersdisposed adjacent one end V of the plate, and detachable means foroperatively connecting said conveyors to the driving means.

12. A conveyor structure of the character described including ahorizontal plate adapted to receive material, a pair of elongatedconveyors oscillatably mounted upon the plate and including endlesselements having outwardly projecting blades, rotatable driving membersdisposed adjacent one end of the plate, detachable means for operativelyconnecting said conveyors to the driving means, and detachable pinsadapted to engage and rota-te with the driving elements and havedetachable engagement with the conveyors.

13. A conveyor structure of the character described including a plateadapted to receive material, a pair of longitudinally elongated conveyorframes disposed upon the plate, sprocket wheels carried at the oppositeend of each frame, one of said sprocket wheels at one end of the framehaving a many-sided socket, an endless element passing around thesprocket wheels of each frame and having outwardly projecting bladessweeping over the surface of the plate, rotatable driving shaftsdisposed adjacent one end of thc plate, and removable pins adapted vtobe inserted through the sockets in said sprockets and into operativeengagement with the driving shaft.

14. A conveyor structure of the character described including a plateadapted to receive material, a pair of longitudinally elongated conveyorframes disposed upon the plate, sprocket wheels carried at the oppositeend of each frame, one of said sprocket wheels at one end of the framehaving a many-sided socket, an endless element passing around thesprocket Wheels of each frame and lia-ving outwardly projecting bladesSweeping over the surface of the plate, 1'0- tatable driving shaftsdisposed adjficent one end of the plate, removable pins adapted to beinserted through the sockets in said sprockets and into operativeengagement with the driving shafts, beveled gear Wheels mounted upon thedriving shafts, a transverse power driven shaft, and beveled pinn ionsmounted upon the power driven Shafts und engaging seid beveled geel'Wheels.

ln testimony whereof ll affix my signature.

FRANKLIN E. ARNDT.

